On the morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year, just as the sky was getting light, the Li family yard was already as bustling as a market.
Li Jianghai walked around the house with his hands behind his back, like a shopkeeper supervising his work, and kept giving orders to his sons.
"Mingyuan, Minghua, hurry to the dock and buy some fresh clams and shrimp!"
"Mingyu, don't just sit there, stack the firewood in the yard neatly!"
Li Mingyu had just finished stacking the firewood and was still catching his breath when his father spoke again.
"Let's move it into the kitchen. It makes our yard look messy!"
Li Mingyu went to move the firewood again. Just as Li Mingyu finished moving the firewood and his butt hadn't even touched the bench, Li Jianghai started shouting again.
"Hey, Mingyu, go to the supply and marketing cooperative and buy a few bottles of soda. Nannan loves it."
Li Mingyu's face was filled with disbelief. He pointed at himself, then at his father, and asked a soul-searching question, "Dad?
Was I the thermos you bought me at the supply and marketing cooperative? Or was I the one you won in a lottery at the market? "Would you please think about it again?"
Li Guifang was squatting in front of the stove lighting a fire. When she heard this, she laughed out loud and said, "That's right.
When he found you by the trash can, your dad said, "This kid has nimble legs and feet, he will definitely be able to run errands quickly in the future."
——Look, isn't this fulfilled?"
Li Mingyu: "???"
Li Jianghai nodded in agreement, "Yes, it's a pity that the basin containing yours was leaking a little."
Li Mingyu looked shocked!
Li Guifang finally couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing, almost tilting the tongs in her hand.
She laughed as she stuffed firewood into the stove, adding, "Alright, alright, go buy some soda!"
Under the ridicule of his parents, Li Mingyu reluctantly slumped his face and wailed in a long tone.
"Dad—my legs are almost broken from running so much! The No. 11 bus is about to move!
After Li Mingyu left, Li Guifang curled her lips and teased, "Oh, tsk tsk tsk, our old Li's heart is really crooked to the point of being crooked!"
I just remember that Nan Nan likes to drink soda. When she was drunk the day before yesterday, why didn't you think of giving the kids something sweet? ?
Li Jianghai was filling the thermos with his butt sticking out. When he heard this, his hand shook and the hot water almost poured over him.
"Oh, it's been a while since I last saw Nan Nan! Who said I don't think about my own child?
Didn't I buy firecrackers for those little bastards yesterday? It cost me more than a dollar!
Li Mingyu was sitting in front of the ice bucket at the supply and marketing cooperative, picking and choosing for a long time, his fingers rummaging through the pile of soda bottles.
"This bottle is frosted... The label on this bottle is soaked..."
He muttered something to himself, and finally dug out a few bottles of good-looking orange soda from the ice.
The ice bucket was crowded with half-grown children, all staring at it eagerly. One fat boy was so greedy that he drooled so much that his collar was wet.
Li Mingyu calculated in his mind: one bottle is 35 cents, 6 bottles are 2.1 yuan, and the remaining money is not enough to buy even a hawthorn candy.
"Young man, are you going to buy it or not?" The saleswoman knocked on the glass counter impatiently.
Li Mingyu stamped his foot and said arrogantly, "Buy! Six bottles!"
As soon as Li Mingyu paid the money, he held the wrinkled banknotes and sucked his teeth - it was the New Year, his legs had become thinner due to running, and the money in his pocket had also become thinner.
As he walked out holding the soda, he felt that what was heavy in his arms was not the drink, but his "hard-earned money".
As Li Mingyu was about to walk out of the supply and marketing cooperative holding the soda, he was hit hard in the stomach by a "little missile" and almost dropped the soda.
"You don't look at the road, your eyes..."
While cursing, he looked down and saw that this was Nan Nan, the little ancestor from my aunt's house.
"Ouch!" Li Mingyu bared his teeth. "You troublemaker, are you in a hurry to reincarnate?"
As he said this, he hurriedly sorted out the soda bottle and asked, "Why are you here alone?"
Nan Nan, with her pigtails prickling up her back, blushed as she ran: "I saw you from a distance! I came over first!"
The little hand pointed to the distance, "Look, my mom and the others are still arguing back there!"
Li Mingyu squinted his eyes and looked hard before he saw a few ant-sized human figures swaying in the distance.
"You're good," he flicked Nan Nan's forehead, "with that look, you could be a scout tomorrow."
Nan Nan chuckled and glanced at the soda bottle: "Brother Yu, is this orange flavored? Can I have a taste?"
"Go away!" Li Mingyu quickly raised his soda. "If your mother sees it, she'll say I'm spoiling you."
Li Mingyu was about to say, "Wait here for your mom to go together," when Nan Nan tugged at his sleeve anxiously, "What are you waiting for? My mom can find her way home with her eyes closed!"
The little girl was quite strong and almost made Li Mingyu stagger.
"Okay, okay, little aunt, you have the final say!"
Li Mingyu held the soda in one hand and held Nan Nan's collar in the other, just like he was holding a naughty puppy.
"Let me make a promise first. If your mom cuts you later, don't hide behind me."
Nan Nan jumped forward like a spring, her little mouth chattering: "Brother Yu, walk faster!
My uncle must be missing me so much! My aunt might even be crying!
Li Mingyu squinted at the drama queen: "Tsk tsk, your face is thicker than a tofu millstone!"
He raised the soda bottle high and said, "If you keep showing off, I'll share this soda with Da Huang!"
"Okay, okay, let's go, let's go!"
As soon as Li Mingyu pushed open the gate, Nan Nan jumped out from behind him like a little firecracker and rushed to Li Guifang and Li Jianghai.
"Happy New Year, Uncle and Aunt! I wish Uncle good health! I wish Aunt business flourishes and makes a fortune! May she look younger and younger than 18!"
Nan Nan shouted a series of auspicious words in a crisp voice and bowed properly, with her two pigtails swaying with the movement.
Li Guifang was holding a basin of vegetable washing water when she laughed so hard her hand shook and almost splashed it all over herself: "Ouch! Did you put sesame oil on this little mouth?"
She hurriedly wiped her hands on her apron and took out a red envelope from her trouser pocket. "Come on, auntie will give you a big red envelope. Buy some candy, but don't let your mother see!"
Li Jianghai squatted on the steps smoking, his cigarette ash dripping all over his crotch. "Good boy! This guy flatters more professionally than your mother did back then!"
Li Mingyu stood at the door holding a soda and pouted, "Tsk tsk, this little liar was just saying he'd give me half of the soda on the way, but now all he cares about is the red envelope."
Nan Nan tucked the red envelope neatly into her socks and stuck her tongue out at Li Mingyu: "Lululu~Brother Yu, are you jealous?"
Li Guifang suddenly remembered something and looked outside: "Hey? Where's your aunt?"
Li Mingyu threw his soda on the table and said, "He's lingering in the back! This little ancestor insists..."
He pinched his voice and imitated Nan Nan, "'Uncle must be missing me so much that he can't eat~'"
Outside the courtyard gate, Li Yun's angry roar could be heard from afar: "Nannan! Running around again! I'll punish you!"
Nan Nan quickly hid behind Li Guifang, with only half of her head showing: "Aunt, save me!"
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